Dead Space:Stray
by Kaya Wolfclaw
Summary: Kaya was a displaced pet on the Sprawl on after the Outbreak after fending for herself for a few hours she meets a man who seems to need a little help. Can she leave her deceased family in order to save this human or will she let him go on alone? Isaac/OC
1. The Sprawl

**Well this is just a prelude to the Dead Space fic I'm typing out as we speak. This story is taking place from the view of one of the Sprawl's pets that wasn't turned into a Necromorph. After seeing the many animal crates and watching developer interviews about the Sprawl pets becoming part Stalker and various other Necromorphs I wondered what the outbreak looked like through one dog's eyes. This one is told by my Original character Kaya so anything in italics is what she is thinking or narrating. Enjoy everyone!**

**Kaya, Charlotte, Eric and Angela belong to me.  
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**Isaac, Nolan and Ellie belong to Visceral.**

**oOo  
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_I wouldn't claim myself to be a hero. Though if my family were alive they would disagree…because I saved another human and his friends, I was just a young pup when I was adopted by my master Eric Lawrence and his family. I was a half breed I suppose you could say, my mother was a German Shepherd who had pups with a wolf but enough of me how about I tell you about my home or what I remember it as. I remember being in a small crate when we boarded the shuttle where I would be taken to my new home, everyone around my new master was talking about how great being on a space colony would be and how our lives would improve. It was a 2 day trip back to The Sprawl, when my master exited the shuttle I was taken out of my crate and that's when I looked around, humans were everywhere, at checkpoints getting their luggage or passing screening exams. I yelped as I was given an injection to keep me of all things from spreading diseases to anyone else. I was soon put back into my crate nursing what considered to be wound as my master went to another part of the Sprawl with a few others. _

"DING DING DING TST"

_I craned my head up at the voice and wondered where it was coming from, I saw a big metal box through the bars on my crate and we seemed to be getting on, as I watched people shuffle in and hold onto the bars as we took off hearing the clack of metal as the box moved. My master stuck his fingers through the bars of my cage patting the top of my head as I heard him talk to another gentleman._

"Whatcha got there Eric? Dinner? You know we don't need to hunt here." _Another man's voice chuckled from the opposite side of where my master sat. I then heard my master's voice laugh as well as he patted the top of my crate._

"Very funny Arthur but in all seriousness when I was back on Earth I was documenting some finding on the incident at the Chicxulub when a man said his dog had puppies and since Charlotte's birthday was coming up I figured what better present than a puppy." He replied._ Arthur made an awe type of sound and then quickly moved onto another subject this human seemed to have a rather short attention span. I heard him bid Arthur goodbye as we got off at a place called Cassini Towers Residential. I looked around at the lit hallways and watched as we approached a doorway, I tried my best to look up and saw my master touch some kind of box that made a beeping noise as it did, then the door slid open, I growled at the sudden movement, I wasn't used to such things just yet._

"Love I'm back!" _I heard my master say as he set the crate down and a woman greeted him happily. After a few moments I saw him kneel down and open the door to my crate and chuckle. _"Well pup welcome to your new home, I think you're one of the first dogs ever to be in space." _ I moved out cautiously my ears pinning to my skull as I let my eyes adjust to the light and stepped out looking at the rather spacious living quarters. I heard the woman make an excited noise as she knelt down scooping me up in her arms looking at me, at first I was so startled I yelped but when it dawned on me she meant no harm I relaxed as she nuzzled my head and made a fuss. _"Oh darling she's absolutely adorable! Charlotte is just going to adore her I know it." _ There was that name again "Charlotte" was she my owner? His wife set me down and put a small leather collar with a tag around my neck as she smiled and pat my head. I roamed the small condo like place getting used to my new surroundings, I sniffed around picking up the scents of my family and stopped when I reached a room decorated with puppy toys and artwork, I stopped at one that was hung up on the door. It was a stick looking human holding a fuzzy thing, was that me? Did this "Charlotte" know I was coming? I moved back to the main room as I saw the man who brought me here unload a few balls and squeak toys on the floor and smiled squeaking a rubber ball, my tail immediately wagged as I lowered down growing chasing it as he threw it. His wife laughed and watched me as I lost my bearing on the kitchen floor and slid into the cupboards and looked up at them as they chuckled. _

"Daddy! Mommy! I'm home." _I heard another voice come from the doorway, I perked my ears and went to investigate as I looked up seeing a smaller human; her hair was in pig tails and she wore a dress. I heard her squeak a little as she smiled wide and knelt down patting the floor giggling, I wagged my tail and approached her a little cautiously but she was calm and gentle. She picked me up and smiled. _"You're so cute! I'm going to call you….Kaya." _I rather liked that name I think it suited me rather well. That night I was so happy to finally meet my owner Charlotte and her family, I think it's genetics for a dog to be so protective of its master but it was different to me…to me this felt more than just a owner and dog relationship. This was my family, my pack…and though I was still young I swore to protect them no matter what._

_Little did I know the 3 years later, the family I swore to save from danger would turn into the very things I hunted down in order to keep my new master safe…_


	2. The Outbreak

**I love you reviewers seriously it's you guys who give me the motivation to write. 3 As promised here is part two of the fic, I'm going to try and follow the Sprawl events closely but I digress as I kind of want to spend a little more time in the areas I felt were interesting. Enjoy guys!**

**Kaya, Charlotte, Eric and Angela belong to me.**

**Everything else belongs to Visceral.**

**Everything Kaya narrates is in **_italics._

_oOo  
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_Well today marks 3 years since I've come to the Sprawl with my family, or I should just say Eric. I'm still considered a pup right now though by dog years I know I'm much older. I sat in Charlottes room watching her draw pictures of us again, she's become quite the artist for her age, I wish I could see color, everyone's always talking about the "colors" she uses; she's 11 now and has recently moved up a grade in Titan Station Elementary. Eric has moved onto chief of waste management in the Cassini towers and Angela recently became involved in the Church of Unitology. I didn't quite understand what that was I just knew it was something they "worshipped" and all it was in my mind was this twisted rock that humans loved. _

"I'm all done Kaya look!" _I heard Charlotte call my name and my ears pivoted forward as I looked up at her wagging my tail, I stared at the picture and seen me chasing a ball while she was throwing it. I then got up and put my paws on her bed licking her cheek gently as she hugged my neck, I was happy for that moment…but then I heard the TV going and the smell of coffee, it was almost time for school and today I was going with Charlotte as a show and tell item. I followed her into the kitchen area as her father sat on the chair looking at the SNN network about a recent string of terrorist attacks. I finished my food and sat near Eric as he ruffled the fur on the top of my head as we both listened to the news lady._

"Authorities today announced the arrest of a suspect connected to a recent series of terrorist attacks; on the USG Ishimura, the USG O'Bannon and a mining colony on Aegis 7. Isabel Cho a former medical officer assigned to the O'Bannon was rescued from a life pod recovered after the O'Bannon's engines were sabotaged and the ship destroyed. Interrogators have received a full confession from Miss Cho and sentencing is scheduled for next week." _I flicked my ears back slightly in a bit of confusion and sized the picture of the so called terrorist and sized her up, I wasn't a stupid dog in fact I considered myself one of the more intelligent breeds or mutts as others would call me. This human didn't seem capable to destroy as many people as this news claimed she did…then again what did I know? I seen some humans do some pretty terrible things to one another when I was pup back on Earth, this had to have been no different. _

"Isn't that just terrible? All of those poor people, children…everyone lost…I couldn't fathom if something like that happened here." _Angela said as she sipped her coffee, Eric just shook his head an reassured her everything would be fine that we had the best security space had to offer, I watched as Charlotte pulled on her school bag and clipped my leash to my collar waving goodbye to her mother as her father, her and myself all headed to the TST station. I looked at all the people boarding heading to their different jobs and the teenagers heading to the Concourse to work at LightSpeed vendors and various other places. I sat next to Charlotte on the train as she stared out the window of the train; I wasn't sure what she was staring at since everything moved so fast. I perked my ears as I heard the lady announce we were at the Titan Station Elementary, Charlotte took my leash and lead me off waving goodbye to her father as we entered the school. I looked around at all the drawings of what the other children did; I followed her to class as I looked around hearing babies in a nursery next door to her classroom, I lay on the floor next to her quietly as her teacher was instructing the class. I heard something moving in the vents above us as I looked up tilting my head. I sniffed the air picking up an odd scent, but thought it merely just a rat probably, once in awhile they showed up though they weren't so common. Some time had passed as it was now show and tell time and Charlotte took me to the front, and before she could begin a scream could be heard from the nursery and the sheer agonizing cries of the babies filled my ears. I watched as Charlotte's teacher punched in some codes throwing the doors into a lockdown of sorts as the children started to panic._

"I wonder if it's that terrorist that might have gotten loose…" _I heard one of the teacher's aides say, then it happened so fast I could hardly remember, a winged creature crashed through the vent of the room and leapt on one of the teacher's aides driving a probe through her skull her body starting to mutate the flesh peeling from her and twisting around her bones that were now becoming scythes; her lower jaw disappeared as she stood up and snarled the winged creature moving to the teacher who was trying to fight it off with a chair. The new creature that this winged one spawned charged at Charlotte and myself, I snarled and leapt on it sinking my fangs into its paper flesh and reinforced bone and took it to the ground, but this think wouldn't go down without much of a fight, it swung its free arm up slashing my side slightly as I moved before it could do more damage…I remember shaking the beast violently pulling it's limb off, then I went for the head and it stopped moving. I panted and looked around for that bat creature when blood flew in front of my face and stained my white muzzle._

"Kaya…he…" _then I saw it…that bat thing got Charlotte, I snarled and leaped on it biting into its back furiously killing it, but I was a little too late, the little girl I once knew was now bald, wearing a torn dress, her hands now had three long claws instead of five fingers, her eyes fused shut and her face…her nose was now gone and her mouth…was open her teeth now fangs…her skin pale and placid her hair gone. She got up and twitched for a moment looking towards me letting out a terrible shriek as I noticed the other children were now much like her, I backed away slowly…I was never one to be terrified but well if this wasn't scary I didn't know what was. I lunged at the creature Charlotte had become just knocking her over as I ran for it, the school was now a mess of blood and panic more of those bat things were killing everyone. I bolted from the school Charlotte and the other children dispersing into the vents, I had to get Eric and Angela…I couldn't save Charlotte but…maybe them?_

"Attention all civilians, this is Director Tiedemann. A station wide emergency is in effect, in accordance with Titan Station Civic Code I am declaring Martial Law, and all citizens are ordered to move to the nearest evac route, looters will be shot on sight. This is not a drill Tiedemann out." _I stopped and looked to the screen, what the fuck did he mean? This chaos was everywhere…? Then I heard it and looked over the railing of one of the floors, those creatures were everywhere…and so many different ones, the slashing one I encountered and one that drug itself on its belly with a bladed tail was the newest one I seen created. I couldn't watch anymore, I sprinted as fast as four paws could carry me through the crowds of people to the Cassini Towers to our house, and to my horror…blood everywhere. I went inside keeping my wits about me and froze as I heard something in the kitchen. I rounded the corner only to come face to face with another slashing thing. It lunged at me and I slammed into its rather large stomach causing it to explode as I rolled back onto the floor and got up, little things dispersed from it and crawled at me latching onto my body as I yelped in pain furiously shaking the little bastards from my body and crushing them when they fell. After what felt like an eternity fighting those little guys I seen the slashing one crawl towards me, I recognized the faint details…Angela…I'm sorry, I leaped over her now new body and sunk my jaws into her head biting it off the creature falling limp. I walked to Charlotte's room pain in my heart for the terrible crime I had committed…I killed one of my family…failed to protect the other and have yet to find the other one…I collapsed on Charlotte's floor pinning my ears whining softly. What was going on…? I closed my eyes and after an hour or so of laying there I heard it…the sound of glass shattering and someone rolling on the floor outside our room. I snarled and leaped to my paws as I ran outside and seen a suited man laying on the floor his helmet folding back for a moment as his comm came up, he spent a few minutes talking to some babbling idiot on the other end I waited and watched him.  
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"Stross where you going? Shit…" _He said with a sigh and tilted his head back, looking at the ceiling. I watched as he picked up some gun looking thing and then he looked up he seen me…he knelt down making the typical clicking noise humans do when they want a dog to approach them. He smelled friendly enough so I moved towards him pinning my ears to my skull as he placed a hand on my head smiling slightly, he smelled like those creatures but also had injuries…was he fighting them too?  
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"Well hey there girl where'd you come from huh…?" _he said as he looked back at my home seeing the blood on the doorway and on myself. He frowned and patted my head as he moved towards my home or what was left and looked inside seeing the mess I had seen, he must have taken pity on me or something because it was that moment he seen Charlotte's room and all her drawings, he picked one up and studied it. _"Kaya huh? Well Kaya…would you like to come along with me…? I hate to leave you here all alone…" _I looked up at him and thought, maybe if I followed him…just for a little bit I'd find Eric? I sighed and followed him as he readied to leave grabbing a medkit from our bathroom which made me mad…he had no right…but I needed this human's help for now…_

_That's how I met him…my new owner Isaac; I hated him at first…but I didn't realize just what lay ahead and how I would come to care about him my new owner._


	3. Friendly PSA

**Hey guys just a friendly PSA to everyone. :3**

**I appreciate the reviews; seriously it's awesome to see such a response this has gotten. I do appreciate one reviewer who pointed out the run on's in my story and did it VERY maturely as I'd like to add. Friendly criticism is welcomed regarding grammar and whatnot. I'm in college and I usually just type these out without thinking to format them correctly so reminders would be super!**

**However, I got one message from another person basically telling me how to write my story and what seems improbable etc etc. Look we're all adults here and I am EXTREMELY friendly to everyone and their works because I believe that's how it should be. I don't have time to waste with trolls or rude comments regarding what I've written. If you don't like it don't read it. I am not going to sit here and type out a Dead Space 2 campaign just told by my character, there's going to be my own quips and quirks added. So if you don't like just keep moseying along then there's nothing to see here.**

**Again thanks to all my fans of this story so far I love and appreciate you guys! Chapter 3 should be finished tonight! 333**

**Much Love,**

**Kaya**


	4. Goodbye Charlotte

**In case some of you didn't see the PSA I don't plan to follow the campaign that much so if you want an accurate story telling of Dead Space 2…better go play the game, some things are gonna be my own quips and quirks here. :]**

**Disclaimer: I own Kaya, Charlotte, Eric and Angela & Visceral owns everything else.**

**oOo**

_I wish I could say I trusted him, I wish I could say I liked him. The fact remained I didn't trust this new human, especially after the display I had just seen. He didn't leave until he took the medpacks and what credits remained scattered through our little abode; I rolled my eyes and followed him out of our dwelling as he raised his hand a beeping noise coming from the little gizmo on his wrist._

"According to my locator we need to go this way. You ready girl?" _I just pinned my ears slightly and followed him through the hallways of the vacant apartments. I saw a hall with a few of those blade tailed creatures and the fat ones. The man I met shot at them and with some effort managed to kill them, I took out those little crawling things that came from the fat ones stomach. He nodded as we proceeded through the big door and looked down a bloody hallway, I could hear gurgling and the sounds of something wet. Immediately my fur stood on end as I let out a low growl, I didn't see anything moving but I knew for sure something way there._

"What is it…?" _The man asked as he shone his gun light down the hall. Some puffy looking mass on the wall there were tentacles coming from it; I smacked a piece of plaster in the hall way causing the puffy thing to spew some kind of explosive from it. I looked up at the man as he frowned and took aim killing all the masses as we cautiously moved through the hallway seeing a few more monsters, I took out the one who was crawling on the ground as the man took out the one that projected some type of acid from its mouth. I looked around realizing I was near where Eric worked, finally I could see if he was okay, but first I needed to lose this human so he wouldn't get in my way. Luckily for me he went through the doors first for a few minutes before returning back out a trouble look on his face as his helmet folded back and he looked down at me._

"Bad news Kaya, that has no gravity in there. So you can't come with me, you'd have to find your own way across. Look at me talking to a dog like it understands me…I really must be losing my mind. Never mind girl just go." _he said as he waved me away, I knew what "no gravity" meant. I was a pretty clever dog but whatever let him go I didn't care I was able to find my way to Eric's office from here. I sniffed the air picking up a trace of Eric's scent, I looked at the man who I traveled with for a short time before taking off back down the hall where we had come from. I followed the scent back to the hall where the blade tail creatures were, I found a small vent big enough for me to fit through. I climbed in and followed it to a hall where offices were for the management of the Sprawl. I jumped down and sniffed around till I came to "Waste Management" I wagged my tail hoping at least Eric was safe, but my happiness quickly turned to despair. I seen the office covered in blood something was here and had mercilessly slain whoever was here. I found Eric's desk and moved behind it and seen bloody footprints leaving the desk and out to the hallway. Was he alive and managed to escape? I stood up to go to investigate when I heard a voice._

"Step 3…Step 3…" _I heard coming from the hall, I saw that babbling idiot who was talking to man from earlier. I watched him go down the hall to where the Concourse was; the same place where Eric's footprints were going. Did he go to find Charlotte? He wouldn't last 10 minutes in the school, not with all the children running chaos through there. I stood up and ran down the halls taking out a few of the slashing creatures as I moved through another vent and followed it through the venting system of the Concourse._

"YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME? WELL COME ON I DARE YA!" _I stopped as I looked down and seen a woman. She was taking on a hoard of the slashing things by herself, she looked familiar to me. In all my time of being on the Sprawl and on and off the train I must have run into her once or twice. I was about to jump down to assist her when I heard a voice, another one familiar to me. It was just after the woman shot in a direction ahead of her._

"Whoa hey hey!"

"You stay back! You wanna talk? You talk from there. Don't say you're here to help, the last one who said that tried to kill me."

"Take it easy…I'm not gonna hurt ya."

"Yeah you got that right…try it and you're dead." _I watched as she went back to working on the elevator and the man approached. IT WAS HIM! That guy who ransacked our house and then soon after parted ways, what was he doing looking for more homes to steal from in this tragedy? This human man me mad, but there was also a bit of sadness to him. My ears perked forward as I heard him approach the gate where the woman was his helmet folding back._

"Look I think we got off to a bad start here, I'm Isaac." _Isaac huh? Well at least I had a name now instead of calling him "the man."_

"Ellie…what do you want Isaac?"

"I'm trying to get to the transport hub, I need to get to the Government Sector."

"What do you think WE were trying to do?" _I looked around the slots in the crate noticing a number of human bodies around her, she must have been with others when they were attacked. Only she made it…?_

" Look I can help you. Besides we got a better chance if we stick together. Don't you agree?"

"Not a chance Isaac, other people are just a liability. I'll release the door lock, but after that you're on your own. Please don't follow me okay?" _After that she did in fact release the door lock and boarded the elevator heading up. _

"Wait…" _Isaac sighed as he waited for the elevator. There was a hint of sadness in his voice as she left. I felt sorry for him then, this place was hell enough and going it alone was tough. Maybe…maybe I had been a little harsh in judging him. I thought as I knocked the cover off the vent and jumped down behind him. Isaac whirled around plasma cutter aimed to fire as I whined slightly, I never liked those tools. The engineers on station would always make such a noise with them. He lowered his gun and smiled looking pleased to see me after all._

"You're pretty smart girl…I'm glad you found your way here I could use some company." _He said as he patted my head. I wagged my tail slightly and followed him into the elevator as we headed up. I knew where we were going and to be honest I was terrified. I was already here less than an hour or so ago; this is where I lost my little girl…and my family. Maybe…maybe not Eric, I saw footprints! That had to be good right? We got off the elevator and took out the few enemies in the hallway; then there it was the doorway to the school. We opened the door and headed inside, the school music and PA system were still on, I heard cooing from the nursery as Isaac looked to me readying his gun as we moved forward down the hallway._

"That's it…yes yes…come to mama. Yes right here." _A female voice came from the room where the nursery play area was. We looked inside and we saw a mother patting her knees as something resembling a mutated infant crawled to her, Isaac and I watched as the baby leapt into its mother's arms and a few seconds later exploded splattering the window with blood. I shook my head with a low growling noise as Isaac look to me I knew he was a little nervous and hell for that matter so was I. _

"Let's keep going." _He said as we moved into the nursery seeing a bunch of over turned cribs, I flicked my ears towards a small hole in wall as more infants tumbled out and made baby noises as they crawled to us. Looking to Isaac he switched out tools to a pulse rifle of sorts and killed all the babies using kinesis to move the explosive sacs to the side. We entered the room where Charlotte's class was and nothing…where had they all gone? I thought as more babies dropped from the ceiling, Isaac made quick work of them as we proceeded on to the nurse's office. We moved on a few more halls until we reached the auditorium. Music from the play was still going and we moved under the bleachers to get to the stage, only we were met b y two children and an acid monster. I took care of the children while Isaac took care of the acid one. _

"I was never fond of bullies in school." _Isaac chuckled slightly as I followed him onto the stage. The sun prop dropped down unexpectedly and scared us both half to death. I followed him as he hacked the controls for the curtain and stage causing them to go down and the curtain to go up. It was a few moments of silence before I heard shrieks…and I knew them well. I watched as they came from the bleachers and ceiling running at the stage. Isaac readied his rifle taking them out, the screams of them dying sounding too human when they fell; I took out the bat thing then looked up as one of the children leaped on me. I noticed the dress; it was Charlotte she bit onto my neck as I thrashed violently knocking her down. She pushed herself up again and charged at me screaming, I panicked…what should I do? Kill or be killed? I shook my head as I rammed her pinning her arms down beneath my paws as she thrashed shrieking trying to get at me. My heart was crushing, I couldn't do it…I couldn't kill her. I had hoped Isaac would._

"Damnit!" _ I heard him yell. He was out of ammo…and those kids were closing in. I turned to Charlotte and sunk my fangs into her throat and bit down killing her. The scream she let out nearly killed me. I stumbled back as she lay there motionless; my eyes were wide with horror over what I had done. Before I had time to let it sink in Isaac was taking hits from a few of the kids. I turned on a dime and leaped onto the stage killing more of the now monstrous children and seen one pinning Isaac down. I snarled and leaped on it finishing it off. I looked around seeing if it was the last of them, thank goodness it was. I turned to Isaac seeing him sit up; his helmet folded back as I seen blood seeping through his suit. _

"Little bastard got me good." _He said as he looked to me. I was too busy looking at Charlotte's mutated dead body lying near the stage. Isaac looked over at her and then at me; he frowned. The man was perceptive. He placed a hand on my head scratching behind my ears as I let out a heartbroken whine. I found myself being overwhelmed with sadness as I moved closer placing my head on his lap whining._

"I know, trust me that thing is no longer your human. It's a alien…my girlfriend, she was killed in something like this too. I promise to get ya out of here…you saved me so I owe you." _ I had terribly misjudged Isaac; he was really a kind human. I really didn't want to leave the Sprawl, I still had to find Eric and so far I hadn't done that yet. However until I found him, I could look after Isaac too. I'm sure Eric wouldn't mind, I sat up and looked at Isaac. I had to get HIM out of here or get him to where he wanted to go; I wagged my tail a little as I licked his cheek. He chuckled and ruffled the fur on my head standing up picking up his gun. I jumped down off the stage and picked up a few ammo packs bringing them to him as he reloaded and patched me as well as himself up before heading onto the next room. I paused at Charlotte's dead body and pinned my ears pressing my blood stained muzzle to the creatures face nuzzling her gently._

_I'm sorry Charlotte, my sweet little one…I failed to protect you, save you…but I never stopped loving you even if you were this monster now. I turned as Isaac was waiting for me, I shook my head and followed him, next stop the transport hub and eventually the Government Sector. _


	5. Brutes & New Friends

**Sorry for the long lapse in updating this fic guys! I got wrapped up in another fic and college wasn't being too kind being my last semester and all, thanks for being so patient! 333**

**Kaya, Angela, Eric belong to me.**

**Ludwig, Vlach and Ben belong to my little sister RaptorBarry.**

**Isaac & everyone else belong to Visceral.**

**oOo**

_Isaac and I had left the Elementary School and were now on our way to the transport hub. Isaac must have needed company because the whole time we moved through the school he was explaining his plan to me; I understood what he was saying though. His plan was to get to the transport hub and head to the Government Sector in order to get some more info and find and destroy the Marker. It was when we boarded the elevator to head to the hub when Isaac's com display appeared before us, it was Ellie; the girl that parted ways from us earlier._

"Isaac! It's Ellie, I found this survivor he says he knows you." _She said motioning to the nervous looking gentleman behind her. He waved nervously saying "Hi" to Isaac as Ellie pointed her plasma cutter at him telling him not to move._

" Ellie, I need him to be 'not dead' I need him." _Isaac said as Ellie lowered her gun and agreed to meet us at the hub. I pinned my ears back and got ready in case we were greeted with something unpleasant when we got off this elevator. I was right or at least I thought I was; when the doors opened a tail bladed creature and one of the ones that Isaac labeled "Stalkers" were there. I growled and lunged on the tail bladed one jaws bared snarling._

"Whoa Kaya easy! These guys are friends of mine! They won't hurt you…" _Isaac said his voice in a quick panic. I looked at him rather confused as I looked as I looked at the tail bladed creature that was scratching and writing under me trying to get away from me. I got off of it and backed away my fur on end and my ears pinned, I still didn't trust these things._

"Damn we lose ya' for a few hours and ya' get this ere' dog to start killin' us!" _The tail bladed creature said with a raspy hissing voice. The Stalker kind of looked nervous as he looked to me then to Isaac, I was terribly confused, I only knew these creatures to be evil and menacing…not to mention cold blooded killers. Isaac placed his hand on my head and motioned to the two Necromorphs looking at me. _

"Kaya the one you just pinned down his name is Ludwig & his friend over there is Vlach. They helped me through the Ishimura and have been great friends to me ever since, guys this here is Kaya she was helping me get here…her family was killed in the outbreak so she's coming along with us." _Isaac said patting my head as I lowered my guard, if they helped Isaac they had to be okay. Vlach the Stalker approached me cautiously and turned his claw over running it along my back; I admit at first I was nervous as this was a Necromorph petting me but I could tell he meant no harm so I swished my tail showing him I trusted him._

"Heh, you're such a pretty dog, nice to have you on the team!" _he said as he turned and followed Isaac, Ludwig kept pace with me joking about how I had to have been just a furry Necromorph with the strength I had to hold him down. I wagged my tail and found it amusing; I was tougher than I gave myself credit for. We passed a rather large hole in the wall and heard a roaring type sound come from it; I looked to Isaac whose body composure I noticed changed as did the new teammates Ludwig and Vlach. Did they know something about what made this hole? I pinned my ears and followed as we went through the doors Ellie waving her arm towards her and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief._

"Isaac we're up here! Come on move!" _Ellie said as she waved Stross next to her as she held up her arm connecting comms with Isaac. Ludwig, Vlach and myself found things to barricade the door we had just come through and joined Isaac's side._

"Well this brings back bad memories; I barely escaped the CEC facility this morning." _Ellie said._

"Wait you're CEC?" _Isaac asked._

"Heavy Equipment Pilot Class 4, you?" she asked.

"Engineer." He replied.

"Nerd, figures." _Ellie said with a small chuckle. As they were continuing their conversation the power suddenly went out, my fur stood on end as I growled lowly looking around for any Necromorphs that might be coming. I noticed that they were usually the source of power outages or anything else on the station._

"It's dark! He'll find me in the dark!" Stross said very panic stricken.

" Shhhh, it's okay it's just a power outage." Ellie said.

"You guys alright up there" Isaac asked.

"I think life support is out too…" _Ellie said grimly. We still looked around Vlach raising his claws and Ludwig unhinged his jaw ready to strike we knew damn well we were gonna have a fight on our hands. It was then that Isaac's comm turned on again and I seen the familiar face of Director Tiedemann in front of us._

"Our two remaining runners Clarke & Stross, I knew it was only a matter of time before you reached the transit hub. You will find the train inoperable." He said.

"Are you insane? You cut the power to life support! There may be other survivors over here! _Isaac yelled I could tell if Tiedemann were in striking distance Isaac would have knocked a few teeth down his throat._

"Public sector is already beyond acceptable recovery conditions; I cannot allow you two to escape. Goodbye Clarke." _He replied cutting off the link. It was only a few brief moments before we heard Ellie's cutter fire and Slashers charging at her and Stross up where they were standing. Then…we heard it, that loud roar and a big and I mean REALLY big Necromorph jumped down slamming it's fists on the ground and charging at us. Isaac switched to another gun that shot more in a straight line, I think he called it a "Line Gun" and fired at the yellow flesh on the big Necromorph's shoulders. It barreled at him and Vlach knocking them both over, I leapt on its back trying to bite it's arms but it's plating was like steel and was doing no good to my fallen friends. _

"Over here here ya big lug!" _Ludwigsaid as he lured it away from Isaac and Vlach, I lowered down biting onto a softer piece of flesh on the big Necromorphs back to prevent from being thrown as much as he thrashed. Ludwig swung his tail cutting off one of his limbs, the big thing fell down but managed to push itself up again shooting projectiles at Ludwig who was dodging them swiftly. Isaac got up and took aim, I leapt down and backed up as he fired another shot of his Line Gun killing it. I went over to Vlach who was dusting off his torn green pants that managed to stay intact and reassured me, we then looked up to Ellie who was finishing off the last Slasher._

"Isaac are you all alright? I think that's all of them for now…why did Tiedemann cut off the power, what did you do to piss him off so much?" she asked.

"Ellie d-do you know what a Marker is?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah the Unitologists on my crew wouldn't shut up about it; why is it real?" she asked.

"Yeah it's real. Tiedemann made one using codes, patterns stored in our heads…mine and Stross. Everything happening on this station is happening because of that Marker. I have to get to it and destroy it and I need Stross to tell me how." He explained.

"You're a strange man Isaac…"_ Ellie replied, I shook my head in a bit of amusement, had to agree with her there, the man was odd. _

"Will you help me?" he asked.

"Were all going to suffocate so…I think I better." She replied with a hint of sarcasm.

"Good, listen we need power without it we have no air and no train; The Sprawl has to have back up batteries somewhere." Isaac said.

"Yes, the solar arrays up there but they've been mothballed for years." She said.

"Okay…alright good I'm going to head there now if I can start them and get some power to the train.." he said before being cut off.

"You'll need someone to open the collector panels, I can do that." She said.

"Take Stross and keep him safe, I'll send a couple of my friends up to help you." _Isaac said as Ellie looked down at our odd little crew. Isaac turned to me and Vlach and instructed us to go with them since he would be going into hazardous areas that I couldn't go in. I whined…I didn't want to leave him; he ruffled the fur on the top of my head and reassured me Ludwig was going so he'd be okay. I looked to Vlach as he motioned for me to get on his back as he climbed up to the platform joining Stross and Ellie. _

"Be careful Isaac!" _Ellie said as we continued along towards the collector panels. I kept my wits about me sticking close to Ellie as she struck up conversation with Vlach. I paused smelling the air…Eric? I looked around for anyone close by and pinned my ears. How could he even be alive? After what I seen I had my doubts…perhaps he was a Necromorph and had his clothes on? I looked down a dark corridor and seen something moving, against my better judgment and Isaac's wishes I went to investigate. I saw another of those Pack children, but it wasn't behaving like the others. It was painting on the walls with its claws, I was so confused…were there some Necromorph's that stayed part human…? He looked over noticing me and hid behind an over turned chair covering his face with his claws. _

_I walked over and lowered down to his level and let out a small yip trying to show him I meant no harm, of course I didn't know if he was scared how he would react. He looked up and placed a claw on my head seeming happy to find a friend, of course now I had paint on my fur but I didn't mind._

"Hi puppy…" _he said in a raspy voice still petting me, I sat down wagging my tail. It was kind of like having Charlotte with me once more. He told me his name was Ben and invited me to paint with him. I stayed with him for a moment when I seen Ellie raise her Plasma Cutter and come down the hallway taking aim at Ben who fled behind me completely scared of her, hell I had to admit the girl was more feral than me. _

"Kaya get over here that thing will kill you!" _Ellie said, I whined and reassured her that Ben was nice and wouldn't hurt us. She sighed and nodded heading to the panels, I looked to Ben who looked at me it was dangerous for him to stay alone so he decided to tag along even though he wouldn't be much help we very well couldn't leave him. So it was with that we headed for the panels with about the strangest collection of f people on this team…I didn't know just how much harder this trip was going to get…it was a good thing though I had more friends to make the journey with. _


End file.
